Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Ike Turner
This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Ike Turner, an American rhythm-and-blues and soul performer and producer who was best known for his work with Tina Turner. This site, rich in detail and breadth of...
Black Past
Black Past: Hendrix, Jimi
In this encyclopedia entry, you'll read about Jimi Hendrix and his influence on rhythm and blues and psychedelic rock.
Black Past
Black Past: Cooke, Sam (1931 1964)
Sam Cooke's influence on music, as the pioneer in cross-over from gospel to rhythm and blues, is described in this encyclopedia entry. His music was important to the African-American identity in the Civil Rights movement.
Tennessee History For Kids
Tennessee History for Kids: Bessie Smith
Often known as the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith influenced entire generations of blues, jazz, and rock musicians and was the highest-paid black entertainer of her time. This website will provide more information about Smith's...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Constitutional Rights Foundation: Black Troops in Union Blue
Activity on African American troops in the Union Army. Students read article for background information, answer questions, then analyze and write about the controversies in a piece to be published in a mock Frederick Douglass's Paper.
Indiana University
Archives of African American Music and Culture
Contains resources on black culture and music from the early 1900s to the present.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Lloyd Price
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Lloyd Price, an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Price made his mark in rock music history with his exuberant tenor and his flair for recasting rhythm and blues as...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: A Guide Through the Culture of the Blues
An extraordinary curriculum unit to teach blues and all its cultural implications.
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Langston Hughes
This resource focuses on the works of famous African-American author, Langston Hughes.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: The Soul Stirrers
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History features the Soul Stirrers, an American gospel group who were one of the first male quintets and one of the most enduring male groups. Several singers emerged from the...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: T Bone Walker
Biographical information on African-American musician and songwriter T-Bone Walker, a major figure in modern blues. He was the first important electric guitar soloist in the blues and one of its most influential players.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Muddy Waters
A brief biography of Muddy Waters, American blues guitarist and singer who became famous in the post-World War II era.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Usher
Learn about the life and career of Usher, the American musician whose smooth vocals and sensual ballads helped establish him as a rhythm-and-blues superstar beginning in the late 1990s.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Bessie Smith
Biographical details on American singer, Bessie Smith, one of the greatest of blues vocalists.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Louis Jordan
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Louis Jordan, an American saxophonist-singer prominent in the 1940s and '50s who was a seminal figure in the development of both rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The bouncing, rhythmic...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Michael S. Harper
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Michael S. Harper, an African-American poet whose sensitive, personal verse is concerned with ancestral kinship, jazz and the blues, and the separation of the races in America.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Albert King
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Albert King, an American blues musician who created a unique string-bending guitar style that influenced three generations of musicians.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Clyde Mc Phatter
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Clyde McPhatter, an American rhythm-and-blues singer popular in the 1950s whose emotional style anticipated soul music.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Etta Baker
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Etta Baker, an American folk musician who influenced the folk music revival of the 1950s and '60s with her mastery of East Coast Piedmont blues, a unique fingerpicking style of...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Gene Ammons
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Gene Ammons, an American jazz tenor saxophonist, noted for his big sound and blues-inflected, "soulful" improvising.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Willie Dixon
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Willie Dixon, an American blues musician who, as record producer, bassist, and prolific songwriter, exerted a major influence on the post-World War II Chicago style.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Ike Turner
Biographical account of Ike Turner, the American rhythm-and-blues and soul performer, and producer who was best known for his work with Tina Turner.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Little Brother Montgomery
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Little Brother Montgomery, a major African-American blues artist who was also an outstanding jazz pianist and vocalist. He cowrote "The Forty-Fours," a complex composition for piano that...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Teddy Pendergrass
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Teddy Pendergrass, an American rhythm-and-blues singer who embodied the smooth, Philly soul sound of the 1970s as lead vocalist for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes before embarking on a...